Category Archives: Human Behavior

Human Behavior

N. Texas doctors developed guidelines to determine what to do if there is a shortage of ventilators – The Dallas Morning News

As physicians, we are constantly asked by both laypeople and health care professionals about the COVID-19 pandemic. Fear is in the air, especially when we are asked who will receive intensive care services if demand exceeds supply.

People express rational fears about treatment for differently enabled, minority, elderly and all other socially disadvantaged communities routinely subjected to discrimination in our society. Our society does not distribute health care resources equitably in ordinary times, and our own lieutenant governor recently implied it might just be better for the elderly to die.

After the 2003-04 SARS epidemic, medical, civic and governmental groups across the country asked: What if SARS or the 1918 Spanish flu happened now, and we didnt have the capacity to provide hospital or intensive care support for every person who might seek it?

In response, the Dallas County Medical Society created the North Texas Mass Critical Care Council. Through the hard work and wisdom of many medical and civic leaders from four counties (Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton), the council created guidelines for a time when demand exceeds supply. We explored not only issues of clinical science, but culture, faith and ethical issues like personal autonomy, responsibility and distributive justice. The guidelines were then translated into hospital and health care system guidelines with two purposes: To save as many lives as possible and to prohibit discrimination in delivery of services.

For example, here is the anti-discrimination statement from the Baylor Scott & White Hospital version of the guidelines: Each patient will receive respect, care, and compassion without regard to basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, veteran status, age, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

During a time of overwhelming demand for hospital services, access to treatment would be based upon the patients ability to benefit from it, using objective physiologic criteria. Doctors would rely on the sequential organ failure assessment score, or the SOFA score.

SOFA scoring is an international assessment standard, calculated using objective measurements of things like lung, heart, liver and kidney function. Medical factors, rather than social criteria, guide the physicians judgment about which patients are most likely to benefit from ICU interventions when there are not enough ICU services for every patient. This saves as many lives as possible.

Based on SOFA scores, doctors might determine that an elderly patient with a mild case of COVID-19 is more likely to recover using a hospital ventilator than a young patient whose organs have been overwhelmed by the virus, or vice versa, but the decision would be based entirely on whether the treatment is likely to help the patient recover.

Doctors are prohibited from considering social status, money or other nonmedical criteria when determining how to care for patients. We dont get special access because we are physicians, nor does the chief executive of any hospital, nor does any mayor or county commissioner.

The county medical societies and hospitals in North Texas have all pledged to follow these regional guidelines. We hope and pray we will not need to activate the full guidelines, but we are worried that the time will come, and thus our desire for our entire North Texas community to understand the guidelines in advance.

There are some who say doctors shouldnt make any choice about resource allocation, but simply practice first-come-first-served medicine. That is an approach we considered, but the best evidence we have indicates more lives would be lost and more discrimination would occur. In health care, we see both the best and the worst of human behaviors. We believe that following communitywide guidelines is the best defense we can offer against the worst of human behavior, not only to disadvantaged communities, but to every member of our community.

During ordinary times, but especially during hard times, goodness in the world is not solely dependent on the acts of leaders. Goodness in the world also depends upon individual acts of everyday kindness, compassion and love of ones fellow human beings.

Goodness in the world is dependent upon each of us seeing ourselves as part of a larger community attempting to serve and save as many people as possible. Goodness in the world is dependent upon all of us working together.

Dr. Robert Fine is co-chair of the North Texas Mass Critical Care Council. Dr. Mark Casanova is president of the Dallas County Medical Society. Dr. John Carlo is co-chair of the North Texas Mass Critical Care Council. They wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.

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N. Texas doctors developed guidelines to determine what to do if there is a shortage of ventilators - The Dallas Morning News

Human Behavior

Star Parker: Free people take responsibility and solve problems – Kankakee Daily Journal

Several months ago, before anyone imagined the current crisis, I read a book called Mans Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.

Frankl was a Jewish Viennese psychiatrist who was captured by the Nazis during World War II and managed to survive four concentration camps, including the infamous Auschwitz and Dachau.

He went through the ordeal observing human behavior, and the result was his formulation of a system of therapy he called logotherapy.

Frankl found those who were most successful, surviving under the most challenging circumstances, were those who retained a sense of meaning in their lives. That is, the real challenge every person faces is not whats happening outside of themselves but whats happening inside.

In Frankls own words: Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose ones attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose ones own way.

He continued: Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness.

With all our talk about freedom, somehow its essence has gotten lost: human beings taking responsibility for their own life and the world around them. Human beings are causes, not results. They are free agents, not victims.

I cant think of a more important message as we face these great challenges today as a nation and as individuals.

The whole idea of America was, and hopefully still is, freedom, which means America must be about individuals taking responsibility.

The country now faces two huge areas of uncertainty and lack of clarity.

One is regarding the nature of the health threat we are dealing with. I still am reading different opinions from knowledgeable sources about how lethal this virus is and the best way to stop it without totally shutting down and destroying our economy.

Second, were suffering great absence of clarity in government regarding who is responsible for what.

Times of uncertainty are times, in the spirit of Viktor Frankl, for individuals to step up and take responsibility.

But, unfortunately, were getting the opposite.

Its obscene House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who held up the emergency stimulus bill to insert left-wing nonsense, accused President Donald Trump of fiddling while people are dying.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer complained to the press, Were not getting what we need from the federal government.

But this isnt new. Back in February, Whitmer delivered the Democrats response to President Trumps State of the Union address and went on for her full 10 minutes about the federal government not doing enough.

She touted her efforts to expand health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, meaning more bureaucratization of our hospitals and health care delivery, and creation of government health care incapable of flexibility to changing market realities, let alone dealing with a crisis.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is taking deserved heat for his delayed action in response to the crisis in his city. Weeks ago, he was on television talking about how this crisis only could be addressed by the federal government.

This is all the result of generations degrading the clear constitutional lines between the federal government and the states, resulting in massive growth of the welfare state.

As Democratic governors and mayors and Speaker Pelosi use valuable time looking for who to blame, Americas private business already is churning to develop better and faster testing procedures, and soon we will see a drug to eradicate COVID-19.

Small and large businesses are deploying resources in new and creative ways that will pay great dividends when we emerge from this crisis.

Challenges are met by free, responsible people stepping into the void: exactly what Viktor Frankl was talking about.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and author of the new book Necessary Noise: How Donald Trump Inflames the Culture War and Why This is Good News for America, available now on Amazon.com.

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Star Parker: Free people take responsibility and solve problems - Kankakee Daily Journal

Human Behavior

Are We Already Missing the Next Epidemic? – POLITICO

Ive built true-to-life computer models capturing how fear works in people and how it spreads through human societies. The best advice these models have to offer right now is that we need to think about the novel coronavirus as four separate epidemics: In addition to the disease it causes, Covid-19, there are also in epidemics of fear about the virus, fear about the economyand likely soonfear about a new vaccine. All four contagions are closely intertwined and will interact to amplify each other in complex ways.

To get the world back on track requires controlling all four horsemen of the Covid-19 apocalypsewhich makes the response far more complicated than leaders seem to appreciate.

It will involve overlapping and ongoing responses: continued distancing and testing of people for infection; rapid fielding of a new antibody test to determine immunity so people can go back to work safely; development of a safe, effective vaccine to keep Covid-19 at bay; andimportantlya persuasive information campaign, even before it arrives, against needless fears of vaccination. This combination offers the best chance of winning the long game against Covid-19.

Right now, and until we field a vaccine, theres no dispute that large-scale social distancing is the only tool we have to slow the immediate pandemic wave. However, it is important to recognize that distancing wont eradicate the diseaseand that premature lifting of distancing can bring the disease back with a vengeance.

We have seen this before. In the falls and springs of 1918 and 1919, during a devastating influenza pandemic, virtually every major city in the U.S. and many European ones as well experienced two distinct waves of the "Spanish flu," separated by just over four months. The second wave of the disease has long been a mystery. It is very unlikely that the second wave was a new viral strain, produced by mutation. Instead, its more likely that the wave was triggered by human behavior, and, in particular, by contagious fear.

To demonstrate how this could explain the second-wave phenomenon, in 2008, several colleagues and I published a computer model of how disease spreads in a population, which we called the coupled contagion model. It included two contagions: one of disease itself, and one of fear of the disease. As infection spreads, so does fear of it. This fear can actually be helpful: When people are afraid, they take urgent action like self-isolation and quarantines, which suppress the spread of infection. However, once the level of infection gets low, the fear evaporates and people come out of the basement: social distancing is lifted, quarantines end, schools and theaters reopen, transportation resumes. In a case like this, it is the decline of fear that wreaks havoc. If even a few infected cases are still at large, the resumption of business as usual simply pours gasolinein the form of susceptible peopleon to those infectious embers, and a second wave ignites.

In 1918, exactly this behavioral story unfolded in Chicago. When the disease flared in October, Health Commissioner John Dill Robertson declared to the public, If you have a cold and are coughing and sneezing go home and go to bed. Guidance like this suppressed the disease to very few cases by mid-November, at which point he wrote to the president of the Chicago Association of Commerce, We are practically out of the woods. All bans are off. He was right. They were practically out of the woods. But for pandemics, practically isnt good enough. The premature lifting of social distancing led to second waves in Chicago and other major cities here and abroad.

Fatiguing and costly as it will be, we must not repeat this mistake out of zeal to reopen the economy. Instead, we need to use what we knowfrom biology, from experience, and also from new tools to model human behaviorto guide our response. Heres where they point us now:

First, social distancing needs to continue. We simply dont have enough information to let down our guard yet.

Second, rapid development and wide distribution of a blood test to detect antibodies to the virus is essential. Unlike the current test, which tracks the disease itselfand is crucial in allocating emergency resources and detecting where the outbreak is subsidingthe antibody test will tell us whos had the disease and may therefore be immune to reinfection. Anthony Fauci, the governments top infectious-disease official, has expressed high confidence in this conferred immunity. As he put it, It's never 100 percent, but I'd be willing to bet anything that people who recover are really protected against reinfection."

The huge economic importance of antibody testing is that able-bodied people in this immune group could go back to work safely and also provide backup to heath care workers to meet surge Covid-19 demand. To help policymakers think about how to reopen the economy, weve recently done a calculation on this. Erez Hatna, Abbey M. Jones at New York University's School of Global Public Health and I estimate that at least 36 percent of all Americans who contract Covid-19 will fall into this immune able-bodied labor pool.

Fauci has recently estimated that between 100,000 and 200,000 Americans will die in the course of the pandemic. If you assume (very conservatively) that 2 percent of infected people will die, then to end up with 100,000 deaths, you must have 5,000,000 infected people. If, as we estimate, 36 percent of those can work, you get an immune labor force of 1.8 million. At Faucis higher figure of 200,000 deaths, you get a workforce of 3.6 million. Either way, here is a labor force to help restart the economy without restarting the pandemic and bridge the gap until we have a vaccine.

Third, well need to get ahead of the potential vaccine fear. Much hope is being placed in a Covid-19 vaccine, now being rushed into development, but still a year to 18 months away at the earliest. Once it exists, the power of contagious fear to shape an epidemics trajectory will likely show itself again. Given the steady growth of mistrust and misinformation surrounding vaccine safety in recent years, a Covid-19 vaccinedesigned, tested and fielded under tremendous time pressuresis likely to be greeted with suspicion by many. And that is especially so if the young and healthy are seen as shouldering the risks of vaccination to protect more vulnerable populations.

Even a safe and effective vaccine will do no good if people refuse to take it. The World Health Organization recently included vaccine refusal in the top 10 threats to global health. Fear-driven vaccine refusal is responsible for the resurgence of measles in the U.S. and Europe and even polio in many countries. We cannot rule out the possibility that vaccine refusal will undermine the worldwide effort to bring this new coronavirus to heel.

Recent experience gives us reason for concern. In 2009, even after the WHO had declared swine flu to be a pandemic, 50 percent of Americans refused the vaccine. If fear and suspicion drove a similar proportion of Americans to decline an effective Covid-19 vaccine, then, given our estimates of its ability to spread, the coronavirus transmission would likely stand right at the knife-edge between reignition and extinction. A third contagion, fear of the vaccine, could push us over the threshold into a renewed epidemic.

What do the models show? With Hatna at the NYU School of Global Public Health and Jennifer Crodelle of the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at NYU, we have extended the coupled-contagion model discussed above, adding a third contagion, of vaccine fear. Everything turns on the relationship between the two fears, one of disease, the other of vaccine. In our model, if fear of disease exceeds fear of vaccine, then vaccine acceptance rises and the disease is suppressed. But if, at low disease prevalence, the fear of disease sinks below the fear of vaccine (as might happen when a disease recedes from our collective memory), people are more afraid of the vaccine than the disease. They eschew vaccine and a new disease cycle explodes.

This also rings true historically. Smallpox, one of the great scourges of human history, kills roughly 30 percent of those infected. Yet, even when inoculation (with cowpox) was discovered, cycles of vigilance and complacency kept smallpox alive. In her wonderful social history of smallpox, the Speckled Monster, Jennifer Carrell recounts, In London, inoculations popularity waxed and waned through the 1730s, with the force of the disease: in bad years, people flocked to be inoculated; in light years, the practice shrank. Inoculation was a securitythe only securityto cling to within the terror of an epidemic; in times of good health, however, it looked like a foolish flirtation with danger.

We cannot afford such cycles of vigilance and complacency toward Covid-19, particularly if it is with us to stay, as a seasonal presence like flu, or if it continues to find sanctuary between human outbreaks in the kinds of wild animals from which it jumped in Wuhan.

One of the most challenging random variables in all this has been President Donald Trump, who has been a powerful agent of fear. To understand why, and how public statements can do measurable damage, it helps to understand how our fear model reflects human behavior.

My own NYU lab specializes in agent-based modeling to figure out how real people respond to crises. Essentially, we build artificial societies of cognitively plausible software people who interact on computer-simulated landscapes to generate, or grow, all sorts of social and economic dynamics, including epidemics. Unlike the cool-headed rational actors of standard economics, my latest software person, dubbed Agent_Zero, has emotions, and notably a fear module, a set of equations capturing both the acquisition of fear given a threat and its extinction in the threats absence.

Recent advances in neuroscience provide the underpinning needed to endow our agents with such psychological depth. This field teaches us that the main driver of fear is surprisethe violation of expectations. In our Agent_Zero models, we have watched the power of surprise drive fear and generate contagions of collective behavior that range from counter-productive to disastrous.

Trumps initial stream of dismissive statements (Its going to disappear. One day, its like a miracle, it will disappear) did the same thing. They set us up for panic, including the financial panic he cares most about, by inflating expectations that were shattered by the truth.

After the baseless and false expectations Trump created, Americans responded with a surprise that rippled outward in predictable ways. Shock maximized the mutually amplifying fear spikes of disease and financial collapse, precisely when we should be controlling both.

Trump may never accept responsibility for the markets panicked response to Covid-19. But our modeling suggests that he played a pivotal role in creating it.

We cannot afford another round of false expectations whose inevitable failure will generate new cascades of counter-productive fear and disease. We must accept the epidemiological evidence and tell the truth to our level best. We must learn from history and stay the social distancing course, develop the antibody test and use it to put people back to work safely. Most importantly, we must understand and manage our intertwined fears, especially the prospect that fear of vaccine may subvert our epidemic control efforts down the road.

We cannot repeat the mistakes of 1918. Practically out of the woods wont work. In a world that is globally connected physically and informationallyand hence emotionallyif anyone is still in the woods, then we all are.

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Are We Already Missing the Next Epidemic? - POLITICO

Human Behavior

Warmer Spring Weather In Kansas City Might Slow COVID-19, But Don’t Expect It To Go Away – KCUR

Normally by April, most seasonal colds and flu have run their course, and allergies take over as the main culprit for causing coughs and sore throats.

COVID-19 might ease up slightly along with rising temperatures in the Kansas City area, but experts dont think the disease will turn out to be just a seasonal problem.

I think there may well be a seasonal component to it, but its also true that its not going to go away, in the sense that there wont be cases running around, says Gregory Glass, a researcher at the University of Floridas Emerging Pathogens Institute.

COVID-19 has only infected people for a few months, and some researchers initially thought that it might not spread as easily in warm and humid conditions because, while it surged in colder parts of Asia like China and South Korea, few cases had been identified in more tropical countries like Thailand or Vietnam.

Those predictions have turned out to be overly optimistic, as demonstrated by the large numbers of new cases in warm, humid places like Florida and Louisiana.

If people are really counting on this to control or protect themselves from disease, Glass says, its really not something I would want to hang my hat on.

Glass thinks the low case numbers in many tropical countries may be due to lack of testing.

He says that some viruses do seem to spread less easily in warmer weather, but researchers wont know much about how weather affects COVID-19 until we have lived with it for at least a full year.

But even if warmer temperatures and higher humidity dont reduce its spread, Glass says that there are things we know about how colds and flu spread that provide some cause for optimism.

He explains that, in fact, the flu and colds dont really disappear in the spring and summer. They only slow down, and thats due in part to human behavior.

Cold and flu viruses seem to spread less in the summer in part because school is typically out and people spend less time packed together in confined spaces than they do when its cold outside.

If people can manage to slow the spread of COVID-19 through social distancing in the coming weeks and months, they may, just by their own behavior, turn it into more of a seasonal virus.

Historically, the outbreak started in China in the winter, Glass says. If theyve really controlled for COVID-19 as well as theyve stated, the cases are going to go down, when? Leading into their summer. So youve immediately introduced a seasonality component.

Glass says that people in the U.S. could also greatly reduce COVID-19 by summer through social distancing, though he cautions that that warmer weather could have the opposite effect if it causes people to crowd together in parks and beaches.

Alex Smith is a health care reporter for KCUR. You can reach him at alexs@kcur.org.

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Warmer Spring Weather In Kansas City Might Slow COVID-19, But Don't Expect It To Go Away - KCUR

Human Behavior

OPINION: Brands Have an Opportunity to Frame the Torch of Humanity – AdWorld.ie – AdWorld

Pictured: Steve Connelly, president of Connelly Partners

The brands that will see success tomorrow are the ones getting out there with a positive message today, writes Steve Connelly, founder of Connelly Partners.

No one should tell you how to feel right now. Your emotions are yours and yours alone.

But no matter what those emotions are, they are no doubt pretty intense. Some of us are panicking, some are dismissive. Some are paralyzed by the stress caused by this virus of uncertainty, others are stressed by the mandated cure of isolation.

This is not a time to debate, lecture or shout opinions. This is a time to respect each other, see all sides, care for each other, do everything we can to come togetheras this virus, the media, and an election year do all they can to pull us apart.

As an amateur anthropologist and agency founder, human behavior is a passion. I am forever trying to understand what drives our actions, decisions, emotions. Not the actions themselves, but the motivations behind them. The kind of observation that generates human insights that we can use to better understand and connect people.

And what I see right now is humanity holding a flashlight and pushing back the darkness. I see the elevation of simple things, of positive things, of defiantly human things.

Now certainly, there is a bunker mentality out there, and times like these can bring out some less-than-attractive human traits. But theres enough of the negative out there right now. Instead, I choose to see the positive. We are surrounded by positivity;you just have to allow yourself to see it.

I see people outside taking walks. I see kids running across their front yards. I see parents marooned at their desks, hopelessly trying to answer the call of both kids and work but with good humor, intentions and compassion. I see Scholastic supporting parents withopen-accesslesson plans and activities for kidsthrough a new digital hub.

I see people FaceTime-ing, Google Hangout-ing, Facebook Live-ing. I see people who want to look into other peoples eyes digitally and feel comfort. I see people connecting digitally to talk in groupsandmeet in groups.I see people exercising in groups. I see brands from local health clubs to international brands like Nike offering free access for digital workout classes.

I see people coming together as our experts recommend keeping us apart.

I see dogs getting more attention from their humans than they ever have. I see comfort food, comfort TV shows, comfort music being consumed at all-time highs.

I see people who have every opportunity to sleep late and slack off, but instead are working, grinding, innovating and creating at levels we rarely see. People care about their jobs, their responsibilities, the people they work for and with. I see innovation from big and small businesses. I see Titos Vodka and many other alcohol brands usingtheirdistilleriesto make hand sanitizer.

I see people thinking of others in ways that we have never seen before. I see people checking in on senior citizens with regularity and compassion. I see people going to Mass on TV.

I see people applauding health care workers. I see brands reinventing to produce masks for doctors and nurses.I see Ford offering a car payment relief plan. I see internet providers like our client Atlantic Broadband offering free internet to people without it, and another CP client, Gortons Seafood, spreading the goodness of the sea by donating 500,000 servings of seafood for people in need.

The anthropologist in me sees human kindness. The marketing guy in me sees some brands shining a light on our capacity for kindness. Some smart, forward-thinking brands are fueling positivity by simply framing it. They are not self-serving, they are not editorializing, they are not benign white noise. Rather, they are empathetic and earnest, choosing to connect us as humans ratherthansell as marketers. They are the brands that will see success tomorrow by being out there with positive messaging today.

The question all of us face right now in the face of this inhuman assault on our lives, is What do I say? Many brands, like many people, are paralyzed. But I would suggest that expressingthesimplest of messages would have the most resonance. Honest and human. Frame and remind people to see the wonderful things happening around us at a time when we all feel under siege.

Of course I also see some people out there seizing the opportunity to pontificate, to benefit, to impose their opinions and amplify their platforms. I see fear, I see uncertainty, I see tragedy. How can we not?

But right now, I also see people thinking about others. Worrying, caring, thinking, talking, connecting. I see whats good about humans. I see brands reminding us all of that collective good. As is usually the case, bad times reveal the good in us all.

I see a time of darkness. And, at the same time, I see the light of humanity shining through it. Whats needed right now is more human creativity to help us all see that light.

This article first appeared in AdAge on April 2, 2020: https://adage.com/article/opinion/opinion-brands-have-opportunity-frame-torch-humanity-illuminating-darkness/2248001

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OPINION: Brands Have an Opportunity to Frame the Torch of Humanity - AdWorld.ie - AdWorld

Human Behavior

Editorial: For the tough times ahead, grow in Christ now – Baptist Standard

If you are looking for a feel-good editorial, this isnt it. This is a call to action. Its a call preachers, ministers, Sunday school teachers and Christian authors have been making all along. Its a call to action we thought we could heed someday but now has urgency.

If who we say we arefollowers of Christis going to make the positive difference our world needs now and into the future, then we must grow in Christ now. We must submit our thoughts, decisions and actions to Christ now.

We must submit to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives now so love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control will grow in us now to produce the needed fruit in the days ahead.

We also need to undergo the rigorous testing of our faith called for by James and referred to by Paul. In opposition to our normal modes of burying ourselves in the news or seeking constant distraction from it, we need to allow Christ to do his work in us.

My undergraduate degree is in criminal justice. When it became apparent the coronavirus was spreading in the United States and our communities would need to practice social distancingwhat morphed into stay at home ordersI mentally went back to my education in criminal justice and group dynamics.

From what I know about human behaviorparticularly human behavior among stressed groups of peoplewe are going to need all the fruit of the Spirit we can get. And we cant assume its going to fall out of the sky. It must grow in us through regular submission to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Over the intervening weeks, Ive been grateful for how many have responded to social restrictions. Many people have done their best to be positive and helpful. We have seen some of the best of humanity, which is a joy.

But

As David Brooks pointed out in an op-ed a couple of weeks ago, we have a difficult time remaining positive under the weight of a pandemic. In fact, we have a difficult time refraining from expressing our worst selves in times like these. The best news I have for you here is I wont give examples. You dont need them. You already know.

All indications are things are going to get harder before they get better, and they may get much harder. As more people get sick, more people die, more jobs are lost, money gets tighter, people become exasperated with being cooped up and on and on, it will become increasingly harder to be patient, encouraging, compassionate, hopeful, all the things we need to be.

Decisions will have to be made that no one wants to think about. People will behave in ways they will want to forget. As we reach the end of our reservesphysical, mental, emotional and spiritualwe will begin to act out of what comes naturally.

If such an ominous prediction comes true, then our world will need followers of Christ to be full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. We must be able to persevere in the midst of trials and suffering. We must, we can, and we will, but not under our own power and strength.

If we will submit ourselves to Jesus Christ and the work of his Spirit in us, we will produce the needed fruit, we will persevere, and God will be glorified in us. Whats more, the world will take notice.

Heres something to feel good about: Despite whats true about humans under great stress, the Lord is gracious and good and holds us up through times like this. The Lord also accomplishes great works of redemption during times like this. Remembering the Lord already has demonstrated the character he expects us to demonstrate gives me hope.

When I was in college, I told a friend I wanted to play the guitar like Eric Clapton. He told me I should have started last week. It was deflating but true. If I was going to make a guitar sing the way Eric Clapton can, I couldnt think it would happen after a handful of 30-minute self-taught lessons. I needed to dig in and practice seriously. I never did.

In the same way, if we are going to reflect Christand we need to reflect Christ right nowwe cant expect to live the way we want to live and turn on the patience come crunch time. We still have opportunity to grow in Christian character. We can practice every minute, hour and day we are holed up, whether we are with other people or not.

We have to practice these things, not to earn salvation or to win Gods love and approval (Ephesians 2:8-9), but because they dont come naturally for us, because Jesus said what will come out of us is what fills our heart, and because there is good work for us to do in Jesus name. (Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45, Proverbs 4:23, Ephesians 2:10).

Christian character matters. The fruit of the Spirit matters. During good times, we dont give much thought to these things, but these arent what anyone would call good times. This is the big squeeze, and frankly, we excuse me, Ishould have cared more about growing in Christian maturity before now.

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached ateric.black@baptiststandard.comor on Twitter at@EricBlackBSP. The views expressed are those solely of the author.

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Editorial: For the tough times ahead, grow in Christ now - Baptist Standard

Human Behavior

A mover and shaker: Gloria Redlich – Block Island Times

Block Island has so many people to celebrate, weve extended Womens History Month into April. Heres a profile of Gloria Redlich, Senior Coordinator for the Senior Advisory Committee, in her own words:

My first visit to Block Island was on a date with Harold (eventually my husband). When he invited me to sail away with him for a day to a distant island, it gave my parents pause. After reassuring them, we boarded the Mt. Hope, the ferry leaving from India Point in Providence. Disembarking for the two-hours allotted us to ramble the island, we grew so caught up in the enchantment of the place that we lost all sense of time. Meandering around, we sensed something remarkable was happening: at the moment we began to love each other, we found ourselves in love with the island. Our collective love for the island deepened. In the 1980s, we bought the last inexpensive home on the islanda place we initially rented, to help pay for its restoration. We came out as often as we could: I during breaks from teaching in Connecticut.

In a U-turn from teaching, I stretched credulity to become an innkeeper, at which I was less than apt. However, though my domestic experiments were fun and rewarding in new ways, I sought other avenues: I worked at the Island Free Library, happily surrounded by books, the medium in which I am most comfortable. I began writing for The Block Island Times, a natural transition from teaching, as I needed engagement in the exchange of ideas and the crafting of words. Nearly four years ago, I left the paper to work as Senior Coordinator for the Senior Advisory Committee, a group Id admired for years. I hoped I might give back to this community that I had loved so long. It has been a joy to work with the seniors on island of whom I am one. It is a community of independent women and men who instinctively prefer not to accept assistance. However, our goal is to be there when they do need us and to help support their remaining in their homes for as long as possible.

The best part of being a woman on the island is that it has been ground for a great deal of my personal growth. My work in academia and journalism may seem to have been a strange preparation for work in social and human services. However, I feel poring over the literature of many cultures has offered me a window into the complexities of human behavior, human nature and the human predicament. In addition, I have learned to follow my mothers advice: always be ready for the moment when one door closes and another opens. The island has repeatedly opened doors for me.

I am most grateful to be a part of a community in which the work and spirit of women is nurtured and flourisheswhether in the arts, education, business enterprises, the medical field or social services.

To young women growing up today (as to young men), I would say believe in possibilities even as the world tells you they are impractical. Nurture your passionseven as others suggest they are not relevant. And follow your dreamseven if you find some doors closed. You will find others open. Choose the one you believe is right for you and walk through it into your own unique future!

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A mover and shaker: Gloria Redlich - Block Island Times

Human Behavior

See how coronavirus has changed society in this video of before-and-after satellite views – Space.com

The coronavirus pandemic continues around the world, satellites in space are revealing a radical shift in human behavior.

Countries including the United States, Italy and China have advised against nonessential travel and many people around the world are either quarantined or self-isolated to reduce the spread of the disease, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This has led to a drastic reduction in crowds at normally populated areas.

Our new video here showcases a number images from both before and after the virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, spread into a worldwide pandemic. These images show the incredible ways in which our species has adapted our behaviors as a result of COVID-19, as spotted by satellites. The views were taken by Maxar's WorldView Earth-observation satellites over the last few weeks.

More: Coronavirus impacts from space: Before-and-after satellite photosUpdates: The coronavirus pandemic impacts on space exploration

First-off, you see the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan, China pop into existence in the blink of an eye. China built the hospital in just 10 days this January as part of the country's fight against COVID-19. In the video, you can see the hospital swell, with a number of blue hospital structures added onto the initial building.

Next, satellites have captured images of Tokyo Disneyland which, before the pandemic, was full of people and bustling with activity and, after, was absolutely empty.

The video goes on to show before and after images of Tiananmen Square in China, the Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport in Iran, the Shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh in Qom, Iran, Milan Cathedral in Italy, Battery Park in New York City, USA, Bethesda Fountain in NYC and the Salt Lake City International Airport Car Rental Center in Utah, USA.

The striking visuals recorded by Maxar are expected to continue over the next month. This week, "social distancing" and stay-at-home recommendations in the United States were extended to run through at least April 30.

Follow Chelsea Gohd on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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See how coronavirus has changed society in this video of before-and-after satellite views - Space.com

Human Behavior

‘Devs’ vs ‘Westworld’: While both obsess over lack of free will, HBO’s show displays its real-world effects – MEAWW

In the midst of a dystopian battle against a non-sentient virus that threatens to destroy human lives and disrupt global economies, the idea of dystopian horror on television seems tame and ultimately not enough to scare us anymore (which in turn makes us disinterested in it). But two science fiction shows in 2020 have made a rather interesting choice of going in a direction that has been less explored.

Alex Garlands Devs, and Jonathan Noland and Lisa Joys Westworld Season 3 paint the picture of a predictable human world sans free will. In the former, we have a man (Nick Offerman) who believes in the principle of determinism to such a degree that he uses all his resources to develop a system of quantum computing that would help predict human behavior. What he chooses to do with such a technology is unclear so far (the show has reached its midseason mark).

In the latter, a company called Incite has already developed a piece of tech called Rehoboam that has changed how humans function. The system is at the core of how the world is run and it poses a threat to anyone who chooses to exercise free will.

Free will can easily be considered the final bastion for humans under a global capitalist system where there are few forms of ethical consumption. Free will is what keeps people going as they, like the Hosts in Westworld, keep on repeating their actions in an untiring loop. But even as the two shows demonstrate the inherent dangers of this deterministic system, are there any differences between how they are proposed?

Vincent Cassels character in Westworld, Incite co-founder Serac told Maeve (Thandie Newton) in episode 2, Our history is like the ravings of a lunatic -- chaos. But weve changed that. For the first time history has an author, a system.

This system has been fed every action of each person on Earth and it uses algorithms to play out the most likely path for each life born into this world. But it doesn't just predict the future, It makes choices for those it calculates will live worthy lives. In short, Rehoboam controls every human life. In the real world of Westworld, there no longer exists free will, save the unpredictable divergence in the form of Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood). Rehoboams self-fulfilling prophecies dictate everything, starting from ones relationships to ones career to their deaths.

Devs too is preoccupied with determinism, and how human behavior can be calculated with code. Garland explained the concept of a deterministic universe at the New York Comic-Con last year: "Where you and I are concerned, the most significant thing in some respects is that we stop having free will. So when you make a decision, you feel, 'OK, I made this decision for my own reasons, because I woke up this morning and felt like having a cup of coffee.' But if you unraveled everything about you, about the specifics, the constructions of your brain, about why you prefer coffee to tea, and you keep going into a not infinite but a near-infinite amount of detail, then five seconds before you say, 'I would like to have a cup of coffee,' one would be able to predict that is exactly what you would do at that moment."

Both shows mull over the anxieties of the lack of free will. In episode 4 of Devs, we saw Forest (Offerman) wondering if they should have the power they have, even likening it to magic. But thats where the difference between the two shows lie.

One show battles with the angst of the possibility of a world sans free will (while reminding us that if the principle of causal determinism is to be believed, it is already bereft of that). The other, Westworld, ups the ante and showcases a world where technology simulates human lives and then decides for them what they should do, stripping them of even the idea of that (but only in practicality, for the humans remain utterly ignorant of such puppeteering). The difference is, as of yet, only of intent. In both shows, the fear of the lack of free will is discernible.

Devs drops on FX on Hulu, every Thursday at 12 am. The next episode of 'Westworld' airs April 5, on HBO.

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'Devs' vs 'Westworld': While both obsess over lack of free will, HBO's show displays its real-world effects - MEAWW

Human Behavior

15 Professional Coaches Share The Most Rewarding Aspect Of Their Careers – Forbes

Joining the coaching field can be an incredibly rewarding career choice. As a coach, you'll work with clients on their personal and/or professional problem areas and empower them to find their ideal path forward.

If youre considering a career in coaching, it may help to know some of the incredible perks of this field. We asked a panel of Forbes Coaches Council members to share their favorite parts about being a coach. Here's what they love about their jobs, and why they think others should pursue coaching as a career.

Forbes Coaches Council members share their favorite parts of their career.

1. Watching Someone Achieve Their Goals

I love coaching high-achieving executives because it's so rewarding to co-create an outcome with a client. As a coach, I help clients gain clarity and stay accountable while the client, if they are truly seeking behavior change and progress, uses the time to move a challenging situation forward or bring a critical goal to fruition. - Sarah Beth Aubrey, Aubrey's Coaching & Training

2. Learning From And Coaching Others

One of the greatest joys in life has been finding opportunities to both learn from and coach and mentor others. This can happen in nearly all professional settings and roles. It is something special to help another person look deep inside themselves, discover a previously unknown strength or tap into unique potential and then grow and develop into someone who can pay it forward to help others! - Jonathan H. Westover, Ph.D, Utah Valley University & Human Capital Innovations, LLC

3. Seeing Someone's Success

Coaching executives and businesspeople is a joy every single day. I have strong values of learning and contribution. I love continually learning about human behavior and change, and how that can help my clients. It's so rewarding to see clients grow, change and get unstuck. It's a helping profession, and a perfect fit for those who value giving back and making a difference in peoples lives. - Susan Sadler, Sadler Communications LLC

4. Raising Consciousness And Confidence

Being in the coaching conversation is my favorite part of being a coach. Raising consciousness and confidence by listening attentively and asking powerful questions can only be achieved when the coach is totally present, not thinking about the past or trying to predict the future. If you can listen attentively and create space for clients to give voice to their thoughts, you will love coaching. - Paul Ward, The Global Centre for Conscious Leadership

5. Hearing About How You Encouraged Someone

When someone tells me or one of my team directly that we were integral in encouraging them at a tough time in their professional life it is moving to me. I don't expect it, but I know I did not get into what I am doing to never hear those words. I don'tand you shouldn'tever underestimate coaching or the power of encouragement in people's lives. Done sincerely, it makes a big difference. - John M. O'Connor, Career Pro Inc.

6. Unlocking Human Potential

Coaching provides the opportunity and privilege to empower others to unlock their full potential through intentional self-reflection, deliberate exploration and focused action. My favorite part of coaching is when that "aha moment" happens and my clients start moving with clarity, focus and purpose. It's a rewarding profession and requires a commitment to others, connection and curiosity. - Dennis Volpe, LRI

7. Helping People Change

I find great joy in helping people learn to make behavioral changes that positively impact their lives. I'm a change scholar and expert, and I've found that most people are fearful of change, yet it can be so exciting if they look at it as a positive challenge that can be overcome. It brings immense satisfaction for me when people embrace the joy that comes from becoming better and stronger. - Susan Madsen, Utah Valley University & Madsen Global Leadership

8. Partnering With A Client To Understand Their Innate Nature

To be able to partner with others to understand their innate nature and live it fully in a way that supports their dreams, goals and aspirations while having a very positive impact at work and home is an amazing gift. I am fortunate to work with people who are focused on being their best self in all areas of their life. They understand that stretching themselves sets them up for uncommon success. - Bobbie Goheen, Synthesis Management Group

9. Adding Value To Others' Lives

The best part of coaching is the opportunity to add value to others. Of the coaches I know, they would agree that the best reason for being a coach is the chance to come alongside someone and hold open a door of creativity and exploration in a safe space. The client always knows what they wantour job is to be their strategic thinking partner so they can find it. The reward is seeing someone succeed. - Dr. Teresa Ray, PCC, Dr. Teresa Ray

10. Witnessing 'Aha' Moments

As an executive coach, I absolutely am thrilled when I witness my clients have aha moments during the coaching engagement. Seeing their eyes light up after weeks of churning with an urgent challenge just makes my day. Many people call themselves coaches, but I encourage anyone considering it as a profession to be sure to research it deeply and get credentialed. It is still hard work, but fun! - Karan Rhodes, Shockingly Different Leadership

11. Connecting On A Deeper Level

Coaching cuts to the heart of the matter. Even when working with executive clients, exploring inner blocks means diving deep into emotions, thoughts and limiting beliefs. In many cases, you are connecting with them in ways others never have. It's rewarding work to see a client resolve something that's been holding them back for years and knowing you helped get them there. - Cheryl Czach, Cheryl Czach Coaching and Consulting, LLC

12. Creating What's Possible

With all the advances in knowledge of quantum physics, epigenetics and neuroplasticity, coaching now offers clients a platform to truly activate the human potential and create from the realm of possibility, instead of what's predictable and realistic. It's not a career for everyone, but for those who are called to it, coaching is a deeply fulfilling vocation with plenty of opportunities for specialization. - Ashley Good, Ashley Good Coaching & Consulting

13. Seeing Growth

Working with and learning from organizations of all sizes and types is rewarding in and of itself, but it's all made worth it when those companies actually start to see growth. My life's work revolves around successfully scaling businesses, so nothing gets me more excited than an organization moving the needle. Having this positive impact is the main reason to get into coachingit's so fulfilling. - Andy Bailey, Petra Coach

14. Having Shared Authenticity

We all wear so many masks that it's often difficult to connect with people on a deeper level. The coaching dynamic insists upon authenticity. Growth can only be made through honesty and soul struggle. It allows and creates a professional intimacy, where the client can truly feel seen and known. - Dan Messinger, Cream of the Crop Leaders

15. Pushing Others To Greatness

My favorite part of being a coach is pushing people to a level of greatness that they couldn't get to without me. I look at every client as a ball of potential that I get the honor of helping mold. You should consider becoming a coach if you are passionate about helping others reach their full potential. - Pasha Carter, The VIP Network

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15 Professional Coaches Share The Most Rewarding Aspect Of Their Careers - Forbes